The Wonder of the Western Wall

For thousands of years, God’s people have gathered to worship, mourn and pray here at the base of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in a place called the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall and the ha-Kotel. But it hasn’t always been easy.

At God's holy hill

For centuries, Jews were denied access to this, their holiest site. After the Romans crushed the Bar-Kokhba revolt in 135 a.d., the Temple was destroyed and most of Jerusalem with it. Jews were actually banned from the city for hundreds of years – resulting in the worldwide diaspora or exile of Jews to every corner of the Earth.